US President Donald Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes and said Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it fails to disarm in Gaza, as he presented a united front with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.Speaking at a news conference with Netanyahu in Florida, Trump threatened to “eradicate” any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear program or ballistic missile arsenal following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year.Trump also downplayed reports of tensions with Netanyahu over the second stage of the fragile Gaza ceasefire, saying that Israel had “lived up” to its commitments and that the onus was on Palestinian militant group Hamas.”If they don’t disarm as they agreed to do, then there will be hell to pay for them,” Trump told reporters at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort. “They have to disarm in a fairly short period of time.”Hamas’s armed wing reiterated earlier on Monday that it would not surrender its weapons.A top political adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on Monday said any aggression against his country would be met with an “immediate harsh response.””Iran’s #Missile_Capability and defense are not containable or permission-based. Any aggression will face an immediate #Harsh_Response beyond its planners’ imagination,” Ali Shamkhani wrote on X.- ‘Productive’ meeting -Netanyahu said his meeting with Trump had been “very productive” and announced that Israel was awarding the US leader its highest civilian honor — the first time it has gone to a non-Israeli citizen.Trump, the self-proclaimed “president of peace,” has been keen to move onto the next phase of the Gaza truce, which would see a Palestinian technocratic government installed and the deployment of an international stabilization force.While some White House officials fear Netanyahu is slow-walking the process, Trump said he had “very little difference” with the Israeli premier and was “not concerned about anything that Israel’s doing.”During their fifth meeting in the United States since Trump’s return to power this year, Netanyahu also appeared to have steered the US leader toward focusing on Israel’s concerns about Iran.Israeli officials and media have expressed concern in recent months that Iran is rebuilding its ballistic missile arsenal after it came under attack during the 12-day war with Israel in June.Trump said Iran “may be behaving badly” and was looking at new nuclear sites to replace those targeted by US strikes during the same conflict, as well as restoring its missiles.”I hope they’re not trying to build up again because if they are, we’re going have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup,” Trump said, adding that the US response “may be more powerful than the last time.”But Trump said he believed Iran was still interested in a deal with Washington on its nuclear and missile programs. Tehran denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons.- Focus on Gaza -Trump and Netanyahu’s talks also focused on other regional tension points, including Syria and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.Trump said he hoped Netanyahu could “get along” with Syria’s new president, a former Islamist rebel commander who toppled long-term ruler Bashar-al-Assad a year ago, despite a series of Israeli strikes along their border.Netanyahu’s visit caps a frantic few days of international diplomacy in Palm Beach, where Trump hosted Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday for talks on ending Russia’s invasion.The Gaza ceasefire in October is one of the major achievements of Trump’s first year back in power, and Washington and regional mediators have hoped to keep their foot on the gas.The Axios news site said Trump seeks to make announcements as soon as January on an interim government and an international force.But Trump gave few details beyond saying that he hoped “reconstruction” could begin soon in the Palestinian territory, devastated by Israeli attacks in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks.The disarmament of Hamas however continued to be a sticking point, with its armed wing again saying that it would not surrender its arms.”Our people are defending themselves and will not give up their weapons as long as the occupation remains,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a video message.

The United States has hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuela drug boats, President Donald Trump said Monday, in what could amount to the first land strike of the military campaign against trafficking from Latin America.The US leader’s confirmation of the incident comes as he ramps up a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro, who has accused Trump of seeking regime change.”There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “So we hit all the boats and now we hit the area, it’s the implementation area, that’s where they implement. And that is no longer around.”The US leader would not say if it was a military or CIA operation or where the strike occurred, saying only that it was “along the shore.”Asked if he had spoken to Maduro recently, following an earlier phone call in November, Trump said they had talked “pretty recently” but said that “nothing much comes out of it.”Trump had been asked to elaborate on apparent throwaway comments he made in a radio interview broadcast Friday that seemed to mention a land strike for the first time.”They have a big plant or a big facility where they send, you know, where the ships come from,” Trump told billionaire supporter John Catsimatidis on the WABC radio station in New York.”Two nights ago we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard.” Trump did not say in the interview where the facility was located or give any other details.There has been no official comment from the Venezuelan government.The Pentagon earlier referred questions to the White House. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from AFP. Trump has been threatening for weeks that ground strikes on drug cartels in the region would start “soon,” but this is the first apparent example.- Fresh US strike in Pacific -US forces have also carried out numerous strikes in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September, targeting what Washington says are drug-smuggling boats.The administration has provided no evidence that the targeted boats were involved in drug trafficking, however, prompting debate about the legality of these operations. International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings, a charge that Washington denies.After Trump spoke Monday, the US military announced on X that it had carried out another deadly strike on a boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing two and bringing the total killed in the maritime campaign to at least 107.It did not specify where exactly the strike took place.The Trump administration has been ramping up pressure on Maduro, accusing the Venezuelan leader of running a drug cartel himself and imposing an oil tanker blockade.